Memories made.

What an absolutely brilliant holiday! Not only did the boys get to see more of the world, but they got to meet friends and family they didn't know. 

For me it was an adventure too! I got to visit new cities in Europe and had to learn to drive on the other side of the road! It was, as people had told me, a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and so the journey there wasn't very stressful, in fact I felt quite proud of my self having done this. 

I got to see my brother and his gorgeous family who I feel are such an important part of my life even though I only met them properly 8 years ago, and they live so far away. They are always there for me, as hopefully I am for them, and whenever I stay with them, I really feel like I belong there. 

What was so great is that Marcus and the boys clearly felt that they belonged there too. Despite language barriers, Jack and Toby played with my nephews all week and were being cheeky, crazy and loud altogether. They sat and watched tv all snuggled together and helped each other build Lego and colour pictures. 

The boys also had a great bond with my brother and sister in-law, going to them for hugs and to learn new words in German. (I must say they picked it up very quickly!) 

Although there were 8 of us staying in their flat, it never felt to squashed or like I needed my own space. We were made to feel very welcome. 

When it was time to leave I found the goodbyes very difficult, as I always do. It makes no sense to me why we would leave behind something that makes us so happy and makes so much sense. The boys seemed to cope quite well, but once we had turned the corner and could no longer see the house they became quite sad, and Toby cried for almost half an hour because he wanted to go back to them. 

As much as this broke my heart to hear and see, because I very much felt the same, it did make me realise how lucky we are to have these wonderful people in our lives, and how amazing they must really be for the boys to have known them for less than a week and already be so attached. 

I can not wait to see them again! This was definitely the start of many holidays like this!